


At the Beginning

by gloriouslizzie



Series: At the Beginning [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Hogwarts Express, Hogwarts First Year
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-22 22:16:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13176336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gloriouslizzie/pseuds/gloriouslizzie
Summary: After meeting Harry Potter on platform Nine and Three-Quarters, the Weasley Twins (and Lee Jordan!) make friends with a couple of other first years.





	1. Unexpected Places

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After meeting Harry Potter on platform Nine and Three-Quarters, the Weasley Twins (and Lee Jordan!) make friends with a couple of other first years.

There was a twinge of guilt in Fred’s stomach (or maybe it was something in the sandwiches his mother had made for him and his brother,) as the Hogwarts Express pulled out of the station. In hindsight, maybe gawking at an eleven-year old was not the most delicate way to handle a situation… and even imagining asking him if he remembered anything about You-Know-Who made him wince. But it seemed so unreal… Fred was genuinely curious, and he still held on to that curiosity while ignoring the (admittedly tactless) questions that buzzed through his head. Guilt aside, he was excited to share his story of his brush with fame as he and his two best friends shuffled inside their own compartment on the Hogwarts Express. George and their friend, Lee Jordan, were gazing intently at the tarantula Lee had brought with him this year. 

“I haven’t got a name for her yet,” Lee murmured, poking a finger in the box to give the arachnid a gentle pat, “Whatever I come up with will have to be absolutely perfect.”

“I’ll say!” Fred grinned. “How did you convince your mum to let you get a pygmy acromantula?”

“And where on earth did you find one?” George chimed in.

Lee smiled deviously, “I didn’t exactly convince my mum…” he said. “My dad bought her for me as a reward for becoming the new student Quidditch commentator.” He pushed his dreadlocks out of his face and grinned. “You two had better give me some good action to comment on!”

Fred and George laughed. The three boys took turns passing the box around, occasionally lifting the lid to peek at the drowsy arachnid. “I think this might be the second coolest thing to happen all day,” said Fred, eager to tell Lee about who they had met not too long ago. He and George took turns describing helping someone who they thought had been a regular first-year, but turned out to be Harry Potter. Lee was utterly gobsmacked. 

“Did you see…”

“His scar?” George finished.

“Yeah, mate. We saw it. It looks smaller than I’d imagined.”

“Bet he gets that a lot.” 

The three of them laughed, and carried on talking about Lee’s new pet. After a few minutes, Fred was startled by a low croaking sound coming from underneath him. “What the hell…” he wondered out loud, glancing under his seat. There sat a small, dark green toad. Maybe it was the poor lighting under the seat, but Fred almost thought it looked frightened. He scooped it up and considered it for a moment. 

“Lee,” Fred began, “What do pygmy acromantulas eat?” Not that he would feed a strange amphibian to his friend’s new pet, but it did bring up a lot of questions about how Lee was going to take care of his strange new companion.

“Wonder where it came from…” George said, eyeing the toad. Suddenly, as though answering their question, a girl with bushy hair knocked on the compartment door and let herself in. There was a round-faced boy standing slightly behind her, looking worried - as though he had lost something important.

“Has anyone in here seen a toad?” the girl asked. “This is Neville, and he’s lost his.” She sounded a touch exasperated, and Neville appeared to be slightly out of breath. “We’ve been looking all over and no one’s seen him.”

Fred held out his hand, “Are you looking for this?” he asked.

“Trevor!” Neville exclaimed happily, “How did you get in here?” Trevor hopped out of Fred’s hand into Neville’s chest. After some fumbling, Neville was able to get a better hold on the toad. He turned a deep shade of red, “I’m sorry to have bothered you… I just get so worried about losing him…” 

Fred opened his mouth to respond, but the girl cut him off. “Don’t you worry, Neville,” she said, “It’s no trouble at all.” She turned back to the three boys in the compartment, “Thank you for your help.” She placed a hand on Neville’s shoulder and turned to leave.

“Hey, wait,” Fred found himself saying suddenly. “You want to see a pygmy acromantula?”

The redness that had flushed Neville’s cheeks disappeared, and his eyes grew wide. He stammered a moment before the girl interrupted. “I’ve read about acromantulas, but never heard of a pygmy species.” Her eyes were wide, but while Neville’s face was one of fear, hers was of wonder. “Are they quite different?”

George grinned, “Well, they’re certainly smaller.” This seemed to allow Neville to relax a bit, though he still kept some distance between his newly re-discovered  
pet and the box Lee held. 

“It… it is safe, though,” Neville asked, “Isn’t it?”

Lee smiled, “Of course she is!” He slowly lifted the lid and let the spider-like creature crawl into his palm. “She’s also a little shy.”

The girl considered the spider for a moment. “I guess I’m a little confused,” she said, “I read in the letter that we were allowed to bring an owl, a cat or a toad. I didn’t realize there were other options as well.”

“Are you a first year?” George asked. She nodded. “Well,” he said, “You are in for a few more surprises.”

She took a deep breath and spoke very quickly, “This isn’t even the first unlisted animal I’ve seen today! Another first year had a pet rat a few compartments back. He said his brother gave him a spell to turn it yellow, but it didn’t work. It didn’t even sound like a real spell, to be honest. I’m surprised that he didn’t realize he was clearly being messed with. Oh well, my parents are muggles, so I had to learn as much as I could. I don’t think I’ll get an owl for a while, yet. I would like to fully examine their utility before I-”

“Hold on,” Fred said, “You said you saw a boy with a rat?” She nodded, looking slightly irritated. “He tried the spell on it? He tried the spell in front of people?” She nodded again. “Well, that’s just brilliant! George! He believed you! I told you it would work! That’ll be four knuts!” George let out a low sigh and pulled four bronze coins out of the pocket of his robes. “You've gotta believe in the beauty of your pranks, Georgie.” Fred grinned. He turned to the girl, “I’m Ron’s brother, Fred.”

“And I’m his more handsome twin, George,” George chimed in, both of them extending hands towards Neville and the girl.

“I’m Hermione. Hermione Granger,” she shook hands with them, first George, then Fred, who could not stop smiling. Lee introduced himself as well, and invited the two first years to sit with them. Hermione thanked him and continued asking questions about pet requirements and about his pygmy acromantula. Lee responded giddily, surprised (and impressed) with Hermione’s knowledge about all different sorts of magical creatures.

Fred, meanwhile, turned to Neville. “I promise she won’t bite,” he gestured towards the spider. “George and I were trying to help Lee come up with a good name for her.” Neville’s natural color had returned to his face again, and he watched as the creature was passed between Lee, Hermione, and George. “Any suggestions?” Fred asked as George handed it over to him. Fred held the tarantula out to Neville, who accepted her gingerly, placing Trevor on the seat next to him.

Neville chewed on his lower lip while he thought. “My mum’s name is Alice, but I don’t think she’d like having an acromantula named after her… even a little one.” 

“I think Lee and I have come up with some ideas for names,” Hermione said. She stretched her hands out to Fred for him to pass her the acromantula. “I think Arachne is a good one, but perhaps too literal.” 

They all offered other suggestions. Neville even chimed in, “My aunt had a spider plant once, I can’t remember the latin name, but I think ‘Phoebe’ would sound sort of like it.” The group “oooh’ed” at the suggestion. Eventually, they were down to a couple of contenders. 

Hermione piped up once more, “I think we should try to find a name that suits her personality. Acromantulas are incredibly smart, and you know what is a beautiful name that would be perfect for a smart spider? Minerva.”

Lee let out a single, very loud, laugh and quickly covered his mouth. Fred and George’s eyes both lit up. “Well, I think it’s a perfect name, Lee,” said Fred slyly. “That’s where my vote goes.”

George was fighting back giggles, “How did we not think of it before?” He composed himself, still smiling widely, “So obvious.”

Neville, not fully understanding the mirth of the third years around them, said, “I think it’s pretty.”

“Pretty?” Lee, still in a fit of laughter that he was trying and failing to suppress, “It’s gorgeous.” He took the tarantula back and put her in the box as the train began to slow. “Minerva. You’re perfect.”

George opened the door to the compartment as they came to a stop and they all headed out onto the Hogsmeade platform. “We’ll see you in there,” he said, waving to the first years. Lee headed off with him, saying, “I can’t wait to see the look on McGonagall’s face!” and Fred was not too far behind. He could hear Hagrid ushering the first years over towards him, and he watched Hermione and Neville wander over towards him. Watching as the first years headed towards the boats, Fred got into a carriage with Lee, George, and some of the other Gryffindors in their year heading up towards the castle. There was no doubt about it, this year was going to be a good one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **I know I went back and forth between what I wanted to call Lee's tarantula. I guess I wanted to make it a little more... magical? I don't know if I'll keep it, but I will almost certainly flip between the terms.**
> 
> Thank you for reading! Comments, Kudos, and suggestions are always appreciated!


	2. Sorted Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After getting off the train, Fred, George, and Lee make bets on where the first years will be sorted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **The chapters in this series may get edited from time to time in order to better fit into canon. I do a lot of research after the fact to make sure I haven't messed things up /too/ badly, but I also have a full-time job and sometimes do my writing there. Thank you for understanding!**

The Great Hall looked spectacular, as always. Candles floating in mid-air lit the faces of the students who were filing in, taking their seats at the house tables. Percy sat in the middle of the Gryffindor table, and George sat three spaces to his left. Fred took a seat next to his brother (leaving one buffer chair next to Percy, claiming it was already filled by Percy’s ego). Lee chose a seat across from the twins so they could all talk amongst themselves.

Every sorting ceremony was pretty much the same. Last year, Fred and George had started making little bets on which first years would get sorted into which house. Sometimes it was easy - if they had an older sibling or a parent who worked in the ministry, they could gauge approximate personalities from there. Sometimes, Fred had to admit, George had a better intuition about outliers and the exceptions. He admired this about his brother, even if he wouldn’t out-right tell him. Fred did have his own moments, though. George betting against his own fake spell he gave Ron was an obvious mistake, and Fred was delighted to have cashed in on that. He figured George must have been kind of glad, too. This year, as he watched first years flock to the front of the room, he could already spot a couple of obvious ones.

“That’s the Malfoy kid,” Lee leaned in and whispered to the twins, pointing out a boy with slicked-back platinum blond hair. There was no doubt about it - the resemblance to his father was striking. All three boys knew enough about Lucius, the boy’s father, from visits to their own father in the Ministry of Magic, among stories Arthur brought home that painted a very clear picture of the man.

“Slytherin,” they said at once. “I called it. No, I called it!” they said in tandem. Lee chuckled as they conceded that the super obvious ones weren’t worth fighting over. It would be a while before they even got to the ‘M’s, anyway.

Slowly, stately, McGonagall walked towards the front of the Great Hall and placed the Sorting Hat on the stool. It took a moment before its booming voice filled the hall with the new year’s Sorting Song. After three times hearing it, Fred and George couldn’t tell if there were any changes made or not. Something about it sounded slightly different, but it could have been something as simple as a new word added to the Hufflepuff verse. It didn’t seem to be of any consequence, either way.

Once the hat was finished, there was polite applause (which, coming from four large tables, sounded rather loud,) and the sorting ceremony began. Fred leaned against George, “Bet two knuts we get the first one.”

George shook his head, “Hufflepuff. Bet.” The two shook hands and McGonagall called out, “Abbot, Hannah!” The hat shuffled slightly on her head before calling out, “HUFFLEPUFF!”

“Lucky guess,” Fred groaned and handed two bronze knuts to George. “Bet you we get one before Slytherin does, though.” George agreed, and Lee took them on. For the next few names (another Hufflepuff and two Ravenclaws), the three boys mostly kept passing the same wager around between them. Lee was also intuitive when it came to the Sorting Game, so in that regard, he and George tended to team up. When “Brown, Lavender” was called, the twins stood up and whistled loudly. Lee also applauded vigorously, despite losing the bet.

From “Bullstrode, Milicent” to “Goyle, Gregory” (both Slytherin) it began to feel to Fred like he was playing a losing game. Professor McGonagall read the next name on the list, “Granger, Hermione!” Fred’s eyes followed the puff of hair that walked towards the sorting hat.

“Bet you a sickle she’s a Ravenclaw,” Lee murmured, sliding a silver sickle on the table between him and the Weasleys. “She was sharp as a whip on the train. Said she’d memorized all of the first year textbooks already.” George agreed, and said there was nothing to bet, but Fred hesitated.

He shook his head, “Gryffindor,” he said flatly, placing his own sickle on the table. Traces of a smile crept across his face as he watched Hermione step up in front of everyone in the hall and place the sorting hat on her head.   
George shook his head and mumbled, “Your funeral,” and continued looking on while they waited. And they waited. As the three minute mark passed, George leaned to his brother, “I think you might have been on to something, there, Freddie.”

At three minutes, forty-eight seconds the sorting hat called out, “GRYFFINDOR!” There was a loud cheer from the Gryffindor table, though none quite so loud, perhaps, as Fred. He pumped his arm in triumph before the thought even crossed his mind that this meant he had won Lee’s wager. After a second, he composed himself, George smirking in his direction, and slid both sickles into the pocket of his robes.

“Pleasure doing business with you, Jordan,” Fred said. Lee just hummed an agreement as Hermione came to join them at the table. She took the buffer seat between Percy and Fred, smiling cheerfully as they watched the rest of the first years get sorted.

Hermione began chatting animatedly with Percy, and Fred went back to his game with George and Lee, stopping only for the collective joy of the Gryffindor table when Harry Potter was sorted into their house.

“WE’VE GOT POTTER! WE’VE GOT POTTER!” he and George chanted. They shook hands with Harry as he joined them, taking a seat to Percy’s right. It was no surprise to them when Ron was also sorted into Gryffindor, but the twins made sure that their youngest brother knew that they shared in his excitement, and that they were proud of him.

Ron did, however, take an extra moment to punch Fred in the arm. “You told me there was going to be a troll! Do you know how nervous I was??” he bemoaned.

“But you’re super relieved it was just a hat, eh?” Fred said.

George chimed in, “Besides, it’s not like we would let a troll hurt our ickle Ronniekins!” The twins laughed, but Ron made a face and sat next to Harry at the table. Over the course of the feast, there was exchanging of class schedules, catching up on what happened during each other’s summer vacations, and imparting their wisdom to the new first years - and if Fred happened to be listening in on Percy and Hermione’s conversation, it was only because he was making sure Percy was giving her accurate information on what lessons would be like. And for absolutely no other reason at all...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading! I am trying to write about one chapter on this fic every other day, so we'll see how well I do with that... Also, I am trying to keep as close to canon as possible. I'm just filling in the gaps with Fremione fluff.   
> Let me know if you have any suggestions, requests, edits, or anything else!


End file.
